“Walking Dead” grumble thread: Hail, hail, the gang’s all here

posted at 8:01 pm on July 28, 2014 by Allahpundit

To cleanse the palate, a sneak preview of the coming season. Actually, is the gang all here? Where are Carol and Maggie? I did see Glenn but it looks as though he’s a half-second from decapitation, a death that’s been hinted about and that would help the show shed some dead weight. But alas, it seems it’s not to be. I think he may end up as TWD’s Jesse Pinkman, the relatable character who’s destined to hang on until the bitter end even though the show would have profited from dumping him a bit earlier.

One thing I like here is the big-budget stuff. A show as successful as this one has no excuse not to stage more ambitious action scenes. More explosions, more urban warfare, more chaos with lots of extras roaming about while the machine guns pop — that’s the makings of a good payoff. (If they ever manage a sequence half as creepy/thrilling as the SWAT raid on the Philly project at the beginning of “Dawn of the Dead,” I’ll consider the dozens of hours I’ve invested in this show to have been worth it.) One thing I didn’t like is how many spoilers there are. A friend e-mailed me on Friday night complaining about that too. When last we saw them, the gang was trapped in a train car at Terminus, surrounded by guards. Looks from this like they (a) somehow blow the train door open, (b) get captured and sentenced to execution by beheading, (c) manage to talk the leader of Terminus into sparing them at the last minute and joining their mission to get to D.C. to find a cure to the zombie plague, and then (d) set off together towards Washington for yet another multi-episode arc of walking in the woods, hacking at the occasional zombie, and lots and lots and lots of talking. Right? Why do I even need to watch the series opener at this point?

Exit question: What is that blurry image that Rick sees at 17 seconds in? I assume fans of the comics know, but I don’t.

Blowback

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[Glen] the relatable character who’s destined to hang on until the bitter end even though the show would have profited from dumping him a bit earlier.

Actually, the show would have benefitted tremendously if they had simply kept his character as it was in the first season – resourceful, smart, able to get in and out of almost anywhere while avoiding the Zombies to get almost anything that was needed.

Instead they turned him into a wuss unable to do much of anything. It’s a darned shame – he was actually quite likable the way he initially was – maybe that was the problem, the writers don’t believe anyone could be likable or competent or something.

Carol and Maggie are in there. Carol briefly at around the 43 second mark and very clearly at 2:03. You can see Maggie at the 50 second mark and then again at the 1:56 mark.
Yes. I’m a Walking Dead nerd.
*hangs head in shame*

In retrospect, I was rather hoping they would go for a hugely shocking death last season finale. Like Daryl. People would be PISSED, but it would have made the show a little more Game of Thrones-y. In that no one was safe….

So I hope that there is a few shocking ones this upcoming season. The show is overstuffed with cast members.

In retrospect, I was rather hoping they would go for a hugely shocking death last season finale. Like Daryl. People would be PISSED, but it would have made the show a little more Game of Thrones-y. In that no one was safe….

So I hope that there is a few shocking ones this upcoming season. The show is overstuffed with cast members.

In retrospect, I was rather hoping they would go for a hugely shocking death last season finale. Like Daryl. People would be PISSED, but it would have made the show a little more Game of Thrones-y. In that no one was safe….

So I hope that there is a few shocking ones this upcoming season. The show is overstuffed with cast members.

mjk on July 29, 2014 at 12:17 AM

They have already had shocking or sad deaths. One of the stand out things about this show that people have remarked on, including professional tv critics/journalists is how often this show kills off main characters.

For as much griping people did over Lori Grimes (I never hated her), they sure cried a lot of sincere tears over her death (I saw it live tweeted the night of the episode). People who had extreme negative feelings about Lori Grimes were still shocked and saddened by her death.

Merle Dixon was killed off, as was T-Dog, Shane, Dale, Andrea, and a few others along the way.

I may be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure I saw a brief glimpse of Beth in one of the Walking Dead previews on the internet.

Also, I think the actress who plays Beth was at the recent San Diego Comic Con Walking Dead panel, with the other actors, so I would assume that means her character is alive at the start of season 5.

I like the show, but I was worn out by the Maggie and Glenn romance early on. I guess I am not too interested in romance in the zombie apocalypse.

One of the exceptions for me personally in this area might be seeing Rick Grimes get a new girl friend or wife in the ZA (zombie apocalypse), since his wife was killed and he went almost crazy mourning over her. It would might be interesting to see how he handles a woman showing romantic interest in him in the apocalypse.

But I don’t want to see the Daryl Dixon character get a wife or girlfriend, and gimme a break, I wish the “Caryl” (Carol + Daryl) and “Bethyl” (Beth + Daryl) shippers would shut up about pairing Daryl up. His character works best as a lone wolf, and it is so cliched to match every last person up on a show or movie.

In real life, too, the actress who plays Beth is about 19, or 20 years of age, and the actor who plays Daryl is about 46 or 47 years old now, so a big no on those two hooking up on the show.

If the show insists on fixing Daryl Dixon up with a woman, they better get someone closer to his age (and no, I don’t mean Carol. She seems more like his Auntie than a love interest).